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Posted: 10/30/2008

About Pete Correale

Pete Correale: The Things We Do For Love now available for digital download on Xbox, Zune, iTunes and Amazon.

How did stand-up comic Pete Correale become one of Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 comics to watch? How is he already starring in his own one-hour Comedy Central special? His secret to success was and remains "plugging away every night" at comedy clubs across the nation and even when he is home from touring in New York City. The laughs Correale finds in his life experiences can be enjoyed when he appears on "Late Night with David Letterman" prior to the premiere of his special "The Things We Do for Love" on Comedy Central on Saturday, June 8th at 11 pm (Eastern and Pacific).

"To me, stand up is a little like jazz. You have to do it every day and every night until it gets into your skin," says Correale. Although joking and cracking wise as well as a love for stand-up comedy were part and parcel of his family life growing up on Long Island, "The actual thought of doing stand up... Read More »

Pete Correale: The Things We Do For Love now available for digital download on Xbox, Zune, iTunes and Amazon.

How did stand-up comic Pete Correale become one of Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 comics to watch? How is he already starring in his own one-hour Comedy Central special? His secret to success was and remains "plugging away every night" at comedy clubs across the nation and even when he is home from touring in New York City. The laughs Correale finds in his life experiences can be enjoyed when he appears on "Late Night with David Letterman" prior to the premiere of his special "The Things We Do for Love" on Comedy Central on Saturday, June 8th at 11 pm (Eastern and Pacific).

"To me, stand up is a little like jazz. You have to do it every day and every night until it gets into your skin," says Correale. Although joking and cracking wise as well as a love for stand-up comedy were part and parcel of his family life growing up on Long Island, "The actual thought of doing stand up was no different than being a movie star -- you can't do that! As much as I loved and admired it, I just thought it was always something that was beyond anything I could do."

But once Correale spent an evening at a comedy club in New York City, "I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," he recalls. He started hitting every comedy open mike in Manhattan. One night at the New York Comedy Club, the owner asked him to substitute for the MC who had to leave in the middle of the show. "The next day he told me he needed someone to cook and clean there, and then I could go on at the end of every show. For a year and a half, my family and friends didn't see me. I would do my day job at the front desk if a hotel, come home, take a quick nap, and go the club. I'd sit in the back, writing, watching guys, and learning."

"It just was about getting onstage and getting better and better," he adds. "Somehow you have to get from the open mikes to being good enough to perform in front of a paying audience. It takes 10 to 15 years of going on every night before you get comfortable enough to bring on stage exactly who you are. If you're on every night over and over and over, you just become so comfortable and indestructible that there's nothing the audience could do that would bother you."

Correale eventually became a regular at The Comedy Cellar in New York City and started doing college shows. Invited to do a five-minute set the New Faces showcase at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, he caught the attention of the comedy industry and landed an agent and a deal with NBC. Another big break was his first appearance on "The Tonight Show," which led to guest spots on "Late Night" and "Last Call." He has since appeared at major comedy festivals across North America and in England and Ireland, and just returned from headlining the first-ever Beirut Stand Up Comedy Festival in Lebanon. Correale also co-hosted the Sirius satellite radio show "Breuer Unleashed" with former "Saturday Night Live" star Jim Breuer for four years, and can currently be seen on the Jameson Comedy Tour.

Even though Correale is now successful enough to enjoy his own Comedy Central special, he still hits the comedy clubs nightly on the road and when home in Manhattan. "Pretty much my whole comedy life I've just been plugging away every night in the city," he explains. "And whenever I get into any town, the first thing I want to do is go do stand-up because it's the one place where as soon as I walk in, I get to do all the talking and everybody loves me. It's awesome. It's like a jazz player coming into a city with his instrument and finding the jazz club because he knows he'll fit in."

Correale also constantly keeps his mind focused on comedy even when not on stage. "It's a muscle and you are always trying to think along those terms. I always have a pad on me and try to write when something hits me that's funny. I also sit at my computer regularly and try to plow out stand up. And I always try to bring new stuff to the stage."

Another way Correale keeps his eye for the humor in everyday life sharp is by blogging on his website (www.petecorreale.com). His latest posts on the "Things That Annoy Me" spotlights the quandaries and absurdities he encounters that often spark his jokes. Other recent blogs spotlight a memorable night at The Comedy Cellar, a neighbor filching his laundry detergent, and "Skiing: why do we bother?" (In his case, as with much of his comedy, it's "The Things We Do for Love").

"You've got to love it," Correale says of his stand up career. "And it's also medicinal for me. I love going up there and being able to just say everything that's going on and happening to me. I think it's fun to just do that."